Three former SNP members who donated to referendum fundraisers have just had their demand for an internal legal probe formally rejected. The donors sent a letter to the Crown Office last week asking for a formal review into why Nicola Sturgeon was never prosecuted during the police investigation into the party’s finances. They were among the crowdfunders who raised £660,000 in 2017 and 2019 that was meant to be strictly ring-fenced for a future referendum. John Swinney admitted earlier this year that the money was actually spent on general SNP activities instead. The initial police investigation into that missing cash eventually led to separate charges against Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell. The former party chief executive was sentenced to five years in prison in June for embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP over twelve years. Sturgeon herself was arrested and questioned as part of the five-year police probe back in June 2023. But police later confirmed the former First Minister would not face charges, with Sturgeon stating she had been completely exonerated. She has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of her husband's criminality. The three donors tried to use legislation introduced in 2014 that gives victims the right to review decisions made in criminal cases. They accused Sturgeon in their letter of clear obstruction of justice by allegedly blocking scrutiny of the party accounts during Murrell’s crime spree. Footage from 2021 previously uncovered by the Sunday Mail actually showed Sturgeon angrily warning members of the party’s ruling body to be very careful about suggesting there were any problems with the finances. But the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service responded on Friday to say the criteria for the right-to-review scheme had not been met. They explained that the police never actually asked them to prosecute the former First Minister. Prosecutors stated that police only sought the Crown's view on the evidence before Crown Counsel agreed that Sturgeon and former treasurer Colin Beattie should not be charged. Former donor Louise Williams is furious that the money was never used for the campaign as promised. "Everybody knows what ring-fenced means - it means it’s going to be spent on one purpose," she said. "That purpose was a referendum. They’ve admitted they’ve stolen it." Meanwhile, blogger Stuart Campbell is now threatening police with a judicial review for failing to reopen the probe into the ring-fenced money. #NewsForYou